‘Total Recall’ Will Get A Sequel if ‘Audiences Like It’

Published 2 years ago
by
Rob Keyes
, Updated June 12th, 2012 at 9:23 pm,

In a day and age where the majority of blockbuster films are extensions of established brands, and sequels, prequels and remakes dominate the market, very few films are designed to be one-offs. With the Total Recall remake coming later this summer, is it being positioned to launch a franchise for Sony and Columbia Pictures?

Yes and no. Producer Neal Moritz is no stranger to franchising, having successfully spawned a long-running series from the Fast and Furious brand, but with Total Recall that’s not the goal. Although if it does well, he and fellow producer Toby Jaffe would certainly be up to it. Who wouldn’t?

The original Total Recall had a sequel get as far as the script stage, is this a one-shot remake or is there potential to continue the story?

Toby: We hope so.

Neal: We hope so. We never set out to make a movie that has a sequel. Anytime we’ve maybe tried to do that, it hasn’t necessarily worked and luckily, during the Fast and Furious movies and a lot of other movies we’ve made, we’ve made a lot of sequels, and my feeling is that if the audience likes it, we’ll make a sequel.

So, I mean, we’d like to. It’s a great world to be in. It’s fun. Plus when you make a sequel, audiences already know the characters, so it’s a lot easier to get a movie going.

The obvious conclusion we could all come up with is that if a movie banks well, somebody will want to make another, but in this case it’s a tad more difficult. Whether the audience is familiar with the world and characters of Total Recall or not, what story would a sequel tell and would it tarnish the intrigue of the original’s ambiguous conclusion?

The original Total Recall almost had a sequel that was to be based on another Philip K. Dick short story, but that of course became its own film as Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report. Due to the grounded nature of Len Wiseman’s Total Recall, the Minority Report plot involving clairvoyants who could predict crimes before they happen would be an unlikely source of material for a modern Total Recall 2.

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Kevin7 2 years ago

I was hoping that seeing the trailer on the big screen before Prometheus would get me a bit more excited for this movie.
But sadly it didn’t.
Hopefully it will turn out to be good but for some reason I think it will end up with the same fate as Cowboys and Aliens last summer. What I mean bye that is I think the August release date will hurt it because of end of summer burn out. And that it just may be not that good.
I hope I’m wrong though.

If it’s well-crafted, I could see it being a potential franchise. I like that they decided against going the 3D route for this one but I’m still hoping they are offering more than just eye candy. A smart story with great visuals and better performances would be highly welcomed!

Kevin. If your a fan of the original you would want to see this is my opinion. That’s reason I wanna see it up be honest. If your 18-19 years old you probably never seen it. Should be ok not expecting to be blown away by this either though. No big expectations is the point.

The sequel was not filmed, but the script survived and it was changed drastically and contained greater elements from the original short story. The story was eventually adapted as a science fiction thriller as Minority Report by Steven Spielberg and opened in 2002 to box-office success and critical acclaim.

Kinda hard for me to stomach replacing Arnold in a remake…almost like that Conan the Barbarian. If your gonna replace Arnold at least bring in some big guns. Hollywood needs to develop some muscular talent obviously. The Rock is about the only thing they got.

What is everyone’s fascination with Arnold? He was a horrible actor back then and he was horrible in Total Recall. They had to rely on the rest of the cast to make it good. It was a decent movie but not as great as it Could have been. It came way… before its time. NOW is the right time. They’ve got great actors and the technology to bring this story to life. Totally looking forward to this.